The Black Ferns eased past Wales, scoring nine tries in their 55-3 victory in their quarter-final at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Whangarei on Saturday.

Portia Woodman opened the scoring from a line-out set play in the 13th minute as Ruahei Demant converted the try. However, Wales responded with their only points of the game three minutes later through a Keira Bevan penalty.

From then on, it was one-way traffic as Ruby Tui, Sarah Hirini and Amy Rule all scored tries before the break, handing the hosts a 26-3 lead at the turnover.

Woodman would cross the whitewash again three minutes into the second period to notch her 20th World Cup try, surpassing England’s Sue Day as the World Cup’s all-time leading try-scorer.

The scoreboard continued to tick with further five-pointers from Luka Connor (2), Alana Bremmer and Demant, who finished with five conversions on the night.

It was yet another commanding performance from the Black Ferns, who have gathered huge momentum heading into the semi-final at their home tournament.

France beat Italy to advance to the semi-finals

France also advanced to the semi-finals after a strong 39-3 victory against Italy in Saturday’s early game.

The French side got off to a dream start as wing Joanna Grisez benefitted from a charge from Emilie Boulard, resulting in a try under the posts converted by fly-half Caroline Drouin.

There were no further scores until the 39th minute when Italy’s Michela Sillari kicked a penalty to get her side on the board, before Drouin responded with three points of her own to take a 10-3 lead for France into the break.

The first half did not end according to plan for Italy, who saw wing Maria Magatti sent to the sin bin for a professional foul, meaning the first nine minutes of the second period would be played with a player down.

France thought they had obliged and scored a powerful try through number eight Charlotte Escudero in the 47th minute, but it was ruled out due to a knock-on and instead added three further points through Drouin soon after.

The French side thought they had scored again but had another try ruled out before being awarded a penalty try from the resultant scrum in the 63rd minute.

Italy’s discipline let them down again as Silvia Turani was also yellow carded in the 66th minute, opening the door for France, who scored three tries in four minutes through Laure Touye and a double from Grisez, who completed her hat-trick. Drouin kicked one conversion, while replacement Line Queyroi added another.

In the end, France was ultimately too strong and produced a solid performance to advance to the semi-finals.

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Premiership side Wasps have become the second club in the league to be placed in administration this season.

Wasps Holdings Limited confirmed the news on Monday, and the company has ceased trading immediately, with administrators FRP saying that 167 employees have been made redundant. This includes players and coaching staff from the various squads in the group.

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Down to 11

Wasps join Worcester in administration, meaning the Premiership has been reduced to 11 teams from 13, as the Coventry outfit has already been suspended from competition.

Wasps had a winding-up order from HM Revenue and Customs for £2million in unpaid tax and a £35million bond that funded the club’s relocation in 2014.

Joint administrator Andrew Sheridan admitted the news is “devastating” and said the focus is on supporting all of those who lost their jobs.

“This is a dark day for English rugby, and we know this will be devastating news for every Wasps player and member of staff, past players, sponsors, and their thousands of supporters throughout the world, and anyone who has ever been involved with this great club,” Sheridan said.

“Our immediate focus is on supporting those who have lost their jobs this morning.

“This will be an incredibly challenging time for every individual, and we will be assisting them in making claims to the redundancy payments service.

“The board and many others across the club have worked tirelessly over the last few weeks to try and find a solution that would allow the club to move forward, and it is with great regret that there has been insufficient time to allow this to happen.

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“However, we remain in ongoing discussions with interested parties and are confident that a deal will be secured that will allow Wasps to continue.

“We would like to thank the RFU (Rugby Football Union) and PRL (Premiership Rugby) for their support to date, and we continue to engage closely with them as negotiations with interested parties continue.

“Of course, time remains of the essence and we will be doing everything in our power to progress discussions with interested parties as quickly as possible, while fulfilling our statutory duties as administrators.

“This will include discussions with Wasps FC, the amateur club aligned to the Wasps Women team, to explore options that may allow the Wasps Women team to continue playing.

“Despite the challenging and complex environment, we have been heartened by the supportive approach taken by all stakeholders to date and are confident that this will continue now that the business is in administration, with all focused on securing an outcome that is in the best interests of rugby and the wider community.”

Out-of-contract attacker Hatem Ben Arfa has already received a host of offers for his signature, with his disappointing spell at PSG coming to a close at the end of this month, according to L’Équipe.

Sides to have submitted formal proposal include Tigres (Mexico), Rubin Kazan (Russia) and Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), with Turkish giants Fenerbahce and Besiktas remaining hell-bent on picking the Frenchman up this summer, having persistently been an attempting to win Ben Arfa’s signature for the best part of two years now.

In France, Lyon President Aulas has been in touch with the player’s entourage in recent weeks, whilst Rennes have made no secret of the fact that they want to add him to their ranks, even if they believe that they will not be able to meet Ben Arfa’s eventual salary demands.

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In Spain, there is promising interest from the trio of Valencia, Villarreal and Sevilla, but nothing concrete as of yet.

Ben Arfa has given his agents a clear mandate this summer: to find him a club with a sensible manager who have European football to offer – that search could be long.

OGC Nice has announced their first signing of the summer transfer window, the Brazilian defensive-midfielder Danilo Barbosa from SC Braga. The 20-year-old midfielder spent the previous two years of his career with the Portuguese side, SC Braga, where he made 76 appearances, netting 6 times. The details of the transfer are undisclosed, the French club have not revealed the transfer fee or the duration of the contract signed.

OGC Nice have committed to their “philosophy,” which is to bet on young prospects with enormous potential. According to the club’s website, OGC Nice has been following the development of the Brazilian for several seasons, and what attracted them most is the player’s solid experience of the European football.

For the past few months, speculation has been rife surrounding Jean-Michael Seri’s future at the club.

Could the arrival of the Barbosa mean the departure of the Ivorian Seri, or is the Brazilian considered an addition to the team? Only time will tell.

Les Aiglons are understood to have inserted a €70m release clause into the player’s contract.

D.A.

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The United Rugby Championship continues on Friday as two games take place, with Glasgow Warriors and the Scarlets hosting Benetton and Leinster in their respective fixtures.

Glasgow Warriors v Benetton

Scotland U20 standouts Alex Samuel and Euan Ferrie are both in line for their Glasgow Warriors debuts this weekend, after both were named in the matchday 23 for Friday’s clash with Benetton at Scotstoun.

It will be Samuel’s first-ever competitive appearance in Glasgow colours, the second-rower having put pen to paper on a first professional contract with the Warriors over the summer.

Scotland age-grade team-mate Ferrie will also make his first appearance for the Warriors if he comes off the bench, with the man from East Kilbride in his second season as part of the Scottish Rugby Academy at Scotstoun.

Head coach Franco Smith names a starting XV showing 11 changes from the club’s most recent outing, as Glasgow look to finish the first block of 2022/23 fixtures on the front foot against their Scottish-Italian Shield rivals.

An all-new front-row combination sees Murphy Walker return from Scotland camp to make his first start of the season at tighthead, joining Oli Kebble and Fraser Brown at the coalface.

Sintu Manjezi is one of four players to retain their places from the meeting with the Sharks in Durban, the South African packing down alongside debutant Samuel in the second-row.

Sione Vailanu will make his first appearance at Scotstoun after making his debut off the bench in Durban last time out, with Ryan Wilson shifting to the blindside to accommodate the Tongan in a back-row completed by Gregor Brown.

Behind the scrum, a new half-back combination sees both Jamie Dobie and Domingo Miotti make their first starts of the season, the former appearing in a Glasgow Warriors matchday squad for the first time since a hamstring injury sustained during his summer loan spell at Bay of Plenty.

A brace of returnees from Scotland camp will combine in the midfield, as Stafford McDowall lines up inside club captain Kyle Steyn in the centres.

Josh McKay is the only back to retain his place from the club’s most recent outing, with the full-back joined by Sebastian Cancelliere and Rufus McLean in the back-three.

Smith and his coaching team once again elect for a six-two split of forwards and backs on the bench, with Ferrie covering the back-row in his first outing in professional rugby.

Johnny Matthews is the most-experienced Warrior available off the bench, the hooker joining Simon Berghan and Nathan McBeth as the front-row cover.

JP du Preez and Lewis Bean provide a physical presence to the replacements, with Bean set for his first outing for Glasgow since the Round One clash away to Benetton last month.

Sean Kennedy comes into the matchday 23 to cover at scrum-half, whilst Tom Jordan completes the squad by rotating to the bench after starting each of Glasgow’s five fixtures to date this campaign.

Meanwhile, Benetton head coach Marco Bortolami has rung the changes to his run-on side which suffered a defeat against the Bulls in Treviso last weekend.

There are 10 alterations in all with Rhyno Smith returning to start at full-back at the expense of Giacomo Da Re, who shifts to fly-half where he takes over from Tomas Albornoz. The only other alteration in the backline sees Joaquin Riera coming in at outside centre for Ignacio Brex.

In the forwards, there’s a new-look back-row with former Moana Pasifika stalwart Henry Stowers lining up at number eight while Sebastian Negri and Giovanni Pettinelli are the starting flankers.

Carl Wegner comes in to join Scott Scrafton as the starting locks with Tiziano Pasquali and Nahuel Tetaz packing down in the front-row as the starting props alongside hooker Federico Zani.

The teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Kyle Steyn (c), 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Rufus McLean, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Gregor Brown, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Murphy Walker, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Lewis Bean, 21 Euan Ferrie, 22 Sean Kennedy, 23 Tom Jordan

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Joaquin Riera, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (c), 8 Henry Stowers, 7 Sebastian Negri, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Carl Wegner, 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Federico Zani, 1 Nahuel Tetaz
Replacements: 16 Manuel Arroyo, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Filippo Alongi, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Alessandro Izekor, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Marcus Watson

Venue: Scotstoun
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Finlay Brown (Scotland), Michael Todd (Scotland)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Scarlets v Leinster

Tom Rogers and Aaron Shingler return from injury to take their place in the Scarlets’ starting XV to face Leinster in Round Seven of the United Rugby Championship at Parc y Scarlets.

Rogers has recovered from a hamstring issue and comes in on the right wing, while experienced international back-row Shingler plays his first match of the campaign following a knee problem. They are two of five changes to the side that took the field against Connacht in Galway last weekend.

Rogers is joined in the back three by Johnny McNicholl and Ryan Conbeer, who will run out for his 50th Scarlets appearance.

Steff Evans continues in midfield alongside skipper Jonathan Davies, while Dan Jones gets the nod at fly-half. He partners Wales and Lions scrum-half Gareth Davies, who returns to the side after missing the Connacht match.

The only change in the front five comes at hooker with Daf Hughes coming in for Ken Owens — one of seven players unavailable because of Wales duty. Hughes slots in between Steff Thomas and Harri O’Connor in the front-row, with Jac and Tom Price again named at lock.

The other change comes at blindside flanker with Shingler replacing Macleod. The on-loan Dan Thomas, who impressed on his return to Scarlets colours in Galway, continues at openside, while the competition’s leading carrier, Sione Kalamafoni, starts at eight.

On the bench, 19-year-old Archie Hughes comes in to provide scrum-half cover.

Meanwhile, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has also named a side which contains several changes after their win over Munster at the Aviva Stadium last weekend.

It’s a new back three for Cullen this week with two Academy players, Chris Cosgrave and Rob Russell, joined by the experienced Dave Kearney. It will be Cosgrave’s first involvement of the campaign and only his second start ever.

In the centre Charlie Ngatai is joined by Liam Turner this week, with Irish internationals Luke McGrath and Ross Byrne the half-backs.

Ed Byrne, John McKee and Thomas Clarkson form the front-row selected by Cullen, with McKee and Clarkson making their first starts of the season.

Ross Molony and Jason Jenkins are selected in the second-row with Rhys Ruddock back as captain. Scott Penny and Max Deegan complete the back-row.

On the bench it will be a special weekend for the families, friends and clubs of Tadgh McElroy, Charlie Tector and Ben Brownlee, with all three in line to make debuts off the bench.

The teams:

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Steff Evans, 12 Jonathan Davies (c), 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Tom Price, 4 Jac Price, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Daf Hughes, 1 Steff Thomas
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Kelmsey Mathias, 18 Willgriff John, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Iwan Shenton, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Corey Baldwin

Leinster:  15 Chris Cosgrave, 14 Rob Russell, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 John McKee, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Ben Brownlee

Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Simon Mills (Wales)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)

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Scotland skipper Jamie Ritchie has hailed former captain Stuart Hogg after the full-back backed the flanker to succeed in the role.

The Edinburgh back-row will lead Gregor Townsend’s men for the first time in their clash against Australia at Murrayfield on Saturday.

After the announcement, Hogg took time to congratulate Ritchie via social media, despite the personal disappointment of being removed from the captaincy position.

Huge respect

“It means a lot,” Ritchie said. “I have a huge amount of respect for Hoggy as a man and a rugby player and it’s been a privilege to support him over the last three years as part of his leadership group.

“He was one of the first guys to congratulate me. Gregor told him I was going to be captain before he told me. When Gregor told me, Hoggy sent me a nice message saying that he backed me and stuff like that, and that meant a lot.”

Ritchie will look to lead in his own way but says that there are elements of Hogg’s captaincy he will take into the Autumn Nations Series.

“The things I’ll take from Hoggy are his passion – he’s a very passionate Scotsman – and the way he used the group around him,” the flanker said.

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“There would be days when you wouldn’t necessarily hear him speak a lot because he’d use the leaders around him, and that’s something I’ll look to take on as well.”

Ritchie was told by Townsend that he was one of the candidates for the captaincy role prior to the announcement, but still described the news as “surreal.”

“We’d had a meeting a couple of weeks prior about some leadership stuff and he let me know I was in the mix, then he dropped the news last week,” he said.

“It’s quite surreal. It’s hard to put into words how it feels. It’s a huge honour for me and my family, they’re really proud of me. I’m really excited about the opportunity to take it forward.

“For me, as a kid, you don’t dream about being captain. You dream about playing for Scotland, you dream about running out at Murrayfield.

“But since my career has progressed and leadership has become a bigger part of it, it’s been something that’s been in the back of my head in that if I was given the opportunity, I’d love to do it.”

Back after hamstring injury

Despite being Scotland’s new skipper, Ritchie has not played for the national team since their Six Nations clash with England in February after injuring his hamstring in that encounter.

“It’s been a while, so I’m excited to get back out there at BT Murrayfield,” he said. “It was tough having to watch the boys from the sidelines (in the Six Nations and summer tour) but I knew with the injury I had I couldn’t offer anything so I was excited to see some of the other guys get opportunities.

“I was watching all the games and I was lucky to go with the guys to Rome and enjoyed the win over there.”

Speaking in today’s France press conference, Atletico Madrid left-back Lucas Hernandez confirmed that Thomas Lemar would be joining him in Spain next season.

“Lemar, he is coming to join us. We will try to integrate him as quickly as possible. Griezmann spoke a lot with him about the club, he is a truly great player.”

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UEFA have confirmed that Ligue 1 side Marseille have been fined €100k for going just €8m over their recommended FFP budget.

The investigatory chamber of the footballing body made the decision not to punish OM heavily, preferring to wait to see if this will be a one-off or not.

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All Blacks head coach Ian Foster said his team are preparing for a “battle of inches” when they take on Wales in Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series clash in Cardiff.

Despite coming into this encounter on a four-match winning streak, which helped them to silverware in this year’s Rugby Championship, New Zealand have delivered a mixed bag of results as they have won just six out of 10 Tests played in 2022.

Unbeaten against Wales for 69 years

However, the All Blacks have been dominant against Wales over the years as they have won 33 out of 36 Tests between these countries, with the last Wales victory registered in 1953.

But, despite New Zealand’s dominance of this fixture over the years, Foster is wary of his opponents.

“They (Wales) are a team that know their game, they play high-tempo,” he said.

“They are very confident in what they do and very physical, a lot of strong ball-carrying and also they quite like the aerial game, so there is a good mix.

“It is always a battle of inches against them if you don’t do well in that close-carry area, otherwise you open up real opportunities for the backs and they will be excited to take it.

“We love playing here, and we are really up for what we know will be a really physical encounter.”

Foster has rung the changes to the All Blacks’ run-on side after claiming a narrow win over Japan last weekend, and stars like Beauden Barrett, his brother Jordie and Aaron Smith are all set to start.

It will be a momentous occasion for scrum-half Smith as he will make his 113th Test appearance, taking him past legendary fly-half Dan Carter as the All Blacks’ most-capped backline player.

Sam Whitelock takes over the captaincy after regular skipper Sam Cane sustained a tour-ending injury against the Brave Blossoms. Meanwhile, Scott Barrett will partner Whitelock in the engine room after Brodie Retallick was suspended for foul play against Japan.

“There is a passionate rivalry, there is a lot of respect between the two countries,” added Foster.

Close encounters

“There have been some massive occasions where the games have gone down to the wire, and I remember some very close games over the years.

“We look forward to playing here, it’s a special place with the stadium and the Welsh fans, and the Welsh players play for the right reasons.”

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Wasps’ joint administrators have accepted an offer from a group which includes former players to buy the struggling Premiership side.

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The Coventry-based outfit were suspended from England’s top-tier and subsequently relegated to the Championship after they went into administration.

But there is hope that Wasps can begin preparing for the 2023/24 campaign after an offer was accepted from a consortium which included members of Wasps Legends.

Significant step forward

Andrew Sheridan, Joint Administrator and Partner at FRP Advisory, said: “This deal is a significant step forward, and one that we all hope will allow Wasps Rugby to live on.

“The consortium knows that it still has to meet all of the RFU requirements, including the fit and proper owners test and the presentation of a 3-5 year business plan with supporting robust financial forecasts, and that this needs to completed as soon as is practical in order to be in a position to play next season.

“We have informed the RFU about this development and the consortium is fully aware of the rugby creditors rules as set out in Regulation 5 by the RFU.

“We understand that the consortium will seek to work with the RFU, the RPA and their members to reach a reasonable conclusion on those matters.”

Huge debts

Wasps followed fellow Premiership outfit Worcester Warriors in entering administration on October 17 with debts of over £100 million.

However, should the deal be completed, they will begin the process of hiring senior coaching staff as they seek to get back to the top of the English game.

The offer is only for the men’s rugby team and the youth academy with discussions ongoing over the future of the netball side and the women’s rugby team.